Shorter Offering on Saturday, April 23 Prior to “Saturday Night Live”; Series Premieres April 26

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – April 20, 2011 – NBC will offer an extended 12-minute sneak peek of its new vocal competition series “The Voice” featuring its four musician coaches – Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton as they join to perform Green’s hit song “Crazy” – on Thursday, April 21 at 11:35-11:47 p.m. (ET) leading into that night’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

In addition, NBC will showcase a shorter two-minute version of the sneak preview as the four coaches unite to sing Green’s “Crazy” on Saturday, April 23 at 11:30 p.m. (ET) just before the regular broadcast of “Saturday Night Live.” “SNL” will air its complete broadcast from approximately 11:30 p.m. – 1:02 a.m. (ET) that night.

On April 23, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” also will be seen in its entirety from approximately 11:47 p.m.-12:47 a.m. (ET).

The announcement was made by Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment.

The April 21 preview will include the four coaches performing “Crazy” as well as informative vignettes from the series that debuts on Tuesday, April 26 (9-11 p.m. ET). On April 23, the shorter preview will only include the “Crazy” version by Aguilera, Green, Levine and Shelton. Both versions will be available on www.NBC.com/TheVoice.

After its premiere on April 26, “The Voice” airs Tuesday, May 3 (9-11 p.m. ET) then moves to its regular time period of Tuesdays (8-9 p.m. ET) beginning May 10.

“The Voice” is a vocal competition series modeled after Holland's top-rated vocal talent discovery show, “The Voice of Holland.” Hosted by Carson Daly, the show features four musician coaches, Aguilera, Green, Levine and Shelton, who will coach only the most talented vocalists.

The show’s innovative format features three stages of competition: the first begins with the blind audition, then the competition enters into a battle phase, and finally, the live performance shows. The show’s casting team is working with the music industry for the best singers to bring to the blind audition process.

During the blind auditions, the decisions from the coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the contestants perform, but they don't get to see them -- thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by the contestant's voice, he/she pushes a button to select the contestant for his/her team. At this point, the coach’s chair will swivel so that he/she can face the contestant he/she has selected.

Once the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success. During the battle rounds the coaches will pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose which of his/her singers will advance.

At the end of the battle episodes, only the strongest members of each coach's roster remain and proceed to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team will compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save one talent on each team, leaving the coach to decide live who they want to save and who will not move on. From these four, one will be named “The Voice" -- and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and $100,000.

“The Voice” is a presentation of Mark Burnett’s One Three Inc., Talpa Content USA, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television. The series is created by John de Mol, who will executive-produce along with Burnett, Audrey Morrissey and Stijn Bakkers.